View Full Version : The Great Coffee Debate
Ok boys and girls what your favorite coffee or tea for that matter while
out hiking the trail. To me a hot cup of coffee on a cold morning or at the
end of a cold day you can't beat it. I rig up a one cup brewer so i can use most the brands out their. I will do instant if i run out but don't like to
:sun
I filter drip grounds through a bandanna placed over a cup.
BobTheBuilder
09-06-2009, 22:51
I'm 5-6 cups per day when not hiking, but I can do a week-long section with instant coffee. Heck, I've done it with caffeine pills before to keep from having to boil water in the morning. I guess if I was out for longer it might matter more, but probably not.
I use my Jetboil French coffee press to brew my favorite Green Mountain Coffee blends.
Rocket Jones
09-06-2009, 23:03
Teabags. Twinings Earl Grey and Irish Breakfast.
Rain Man
09-06-2009, 23:10
Nescafe's "Tasters Choice" singles, instant, variety pack, are good as anything I have tried so far. I'm also fine with tea, either Plantation Mint or Constant Comment orange, with honey or sugar.
Rain:sunMan
.
Jonnycat
09-06-2009, 23:57
Nescafe's "Tasters Choice" singles, instant....
Same here. I put one regular and one decaf in an 8oz cup and add 6oz of water. It's strong and hot, with just the right amount of caffeine and flavor. Love those things, they're always fresh.
drastic_quench
09-07-2009, 01:29
Teabags. Twinings Earl Grey and Irish Breakfast.
I like the Darjeeling myself.
I like the starbucks instant columbian brew. I usually make a cup with 6 ounces of water instead of 8 to get a good strong cup.
its a good lightweight option.
juma
Hikes in Rain
09-07-2009, 07:35
I get to section the AT so infrequently, I do things like food and coffee up right. For coffee, I'll roast green coffee beans to a dark roast. Depending on how far I'm going, what my pack weight already is, and sometimes just on a whim, I'll either grind the beans at home (coarse grind), or not and carry the little backpacking coffee grinder from Campmor. (Darned thing actually works!)
On the trail, it's cowboy coffee. I've tried other methods, and short of carrying a coffee press, that's about the best for me and my setup. Couple of spoonfuls of grounds per cup of water. Bring water to boil, take off stove and wait a minute for it to cool (boiling water leaches out the bitter acids), stir in coffee and let steep and settle three to five minutes. (Note that this doesn't work well in really cold weather! Walked the southern half of the Smokies in late November when morning temps were in the low single digits. Never got a hot cup the whole trip.)
Cleanup is pretty simple, too. Add a little water to the pot, swirl to loosen the grounds, then dump in the fire ring where they'll dry and burn with the next fire.
Mrs Baggins
09-07-2009, 07:45
Regular Java Juice for coffee, Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer or Sleepy Time for evening tea.
I use Maxwell House, Folgers, or Store Brand coffee bags.
Definitely not the best tasting solution, but best taste/convenience/weight/availability trade-off I've found.
I've never been successful at cowboy coffee, find the mess afterward unappealing.
Always on the lookout for something better.
I've never been successful at cowboy coffee, find the mess afterward unappealing.
Always on the lookout for something better.No mess or bother at all with the Jetboil French press. I remove the press and pour a very small amount of water on it while spinning it and it's clean as a whistle. Then I pour about a cup of water into the Jetboil, swirl it vigorously and sling the grounds out (well away from camp). Repeat and the Jetboil is clean as a whistle also. No fuss, no mess, and my hands don't even get wet doing it in cold weather.
Jetboil is too heavy, bulky and expensive for my pack. Definitely overkill for me for a cup of coffee. I use an alcohol stove, don't mind the extra couple of minutes for hot water.
Those individual coffee bags were a great invention! I like Folgers brand myself but they're all quick and easy and very lightweight. Enjoy!
Community Coffee instant for me. Tried the jettbol french press and found this is just more simple.
BEAS
Graywolf
09-07-2009, 11:54
Ahhhhh......TEAaaaaaaa.!!!!!!!!
My favorite is English Breakfast tea in the mornings and Black Currant/Raspberry tea in the evening. Great to getting the old jetney going and great for chillin down
I drink whichever darkest coffee is on sale - Starbuck's Sumatra is great....don't find it on sale, much tho!
Use the MSR Mugmate to make it....
http://www.rei.com/product/726094
...and referring to the other thread - put it in a cheap plastic travel mug with a lid.....
ridgerunninrat81
09-08-2009, 00:07
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Lake and Lodge!!!
modiyooch
09-08-2009, 07:30
I drink whichever darkest coffee is on sale - Starbuck's Sumatra is great....don't find it on sale, much tho!
Use the MSR Mugmate to make it....
http://www.rei.com/product/726094
....Morning coffee is a priority for me and this is exactly what I use. Brewed Starbucks, Sumatra or Italian Espresso, and the Mugmate. I carry the flavored creamers so that I don't have to mess with milk and sugar. I don't do instant.
sheepdog
09-08-2009, 07:34
Cowboy coffee
instant coffee is just......... nasty
sorry, it had to be said.
again
mister krabs
09-08-2009, 08:28
Community French Roast whole bean ground and sealed before I leave. I stock up when I go to New Orleans or when my inlaws visit. When I run out of that, 8 oclock french roast beans.
drastic_quench
09-08-2009, 10:09
I was a French roast guy for a long time, but lately I've been exploring lighter roasts. I'm really liking full city style roasts. I taste a lot more of the bean and less char. I'd compare it to preferring your steak medium rare instead of well done.
Hoop Time
09-08-2009, 11:10
Love my morning coffee, but don't usually brew it when hiking. Get my buzz from eating dark chocolate covered expresso beans for the most part.
Do carry tea bags, but usually only drink it in the evening (and only in cooler weather). When car camping I prefer my old fashioned stovetop Italian expresso pot, but don't carry it hiking -- not because of weight, but because of not wanting the hassle or the use of water to clean it properly.
Have thought using the coffee bags that are like tea bags for individual cups, but thus far I have not seen them made with a good dark roast like I prefer.
Any Green or medium grade Black Tea will do for me. I use the teabag to wipe out my cook pot or bowl too!
Any Green or medium grade Black Tea will do for me. I use the teabag to wipe out my cook pot or bowl too!
As an aside:
I hiked with a guy this past May that drank tea every day. He then wiped his face with the used teabag as an astringent. Said he normally had oily skin, and this helped a lot. Made sense to me.
As an aside:
I hiked with a guy this past May that drank tea every day. He then wiped his face with the used teabag as an astringent. Said he normally had oily skin, and this helped a lot. Made sense to me.
Very cool indeed!
I love the luxuries of my perculator and I love good coffee at home.
There is so much more to enjoy on the trail that coffee is really not that important?
But, on the trail anything that taste like coffee and is black and strong and helps me bowels move.
Instant is easiest all around, your cup and hot water, cowboy works too.
Terraducky
09-10-2009, 20:41
Ferrara Instant Espresso...yum! Now that's a strong cuppa joe!
Surplusman
09-11-2009, 07:53
My favorite first cuppa something in the morning is usually loose Lapsang Souchong tea. It's smoked tea with a taste either you like or hate, but I love it. Sometimes I make a small cup of Turkish coffee in a traditional ibrik over my Esbit stove. But I can also make cowboy coffee if I feel like it, or Taster's Choice in the tubes. So I generally switch my coffee brewing methods around just because I can and like too. But whatever, I gotta have my tea and/or coffee in the morning!
My father once told me life is too short to drink cheap beer, date fat girls and start your day with bad coffee.
That being said I take a snow peak titanium coffee press and Organic Coffee Company breakfast blend with me every time and enjoy that simple luxury when on the trail.
I also drink guiness and have a beautiful wife!
faarside
09-11-2009, 09:59
Each morning I boil water for oatmeal and a Folgers Coffee Single bag or tea bag. The Folgers Coffee Singles are foil wrapped and stay fresh for a looooooong time, even in wet weather.
any thread using the "look at me banana" is off my read list.
But that's just me, right??
drastic_quench
09-11-2009, 12:48
My favorite first cuppa something in the morning is usually loose Lapsang Souchong tea. It's smoked tea with a taste either you like or hate, but I love it. Sometimes I make a small cup of Turkish coffee in a traditional ibrik over my Esbit stove. But I can also make cowboy coffee if I feel like it, or Taster's Choice in the tubes. So I generally switch my coffee brewing methods around just because I can and like too. But whatever, I gotta have my tea and/or coffee in the morning!
That's good stuff.
There is so much more to enjoy on the trail that coffee is really not that important?Those who say they don't need it, miss it, or use instant coffee aren't real coffee lovers. Early mornings in the woods with a good cup of coffee is one of the big reasons I hit the trail. Certainly one of the best parts of the whole hiking experience for me! YMMV.
ShoelessWanderer
09-11-2009, 13:32
I like the starbucks instant columbian brew. I usually make a cup with 6 ounces of water instead of 8 to get a good strong cup.
its a good lightweight option.
juma
Where do you find them?? I've been trying and trying to find starbucks instant, and none of my local stores seem to have them. :mad:
For now, I use Taster's choice instant, best I've had so far.
Surplusman
09-14-2009, 21:12
A blast from the past......
Where do you find them?? I've been trying and trying to find starbucks instant, and none of my local stores seem to have them. :mad:
For now, I use Taster's choice instant, best I've had so far.
on the internet or if in chicago, you can buy it there at the stores.
juma
sheepdog
09-15-2009, 08:59
Those who say they don't need it, miss it, or use instant coffee aren't real coffee lovers. Early mornings in the woods with a good cup of coffee is one of the big reasons I hit the trail. Certainly one of the best parts of the whole hiking experience for me! YMMV.
very true.
Hikes in Rain
09-15-2009, 09:21
I agree, as well. Some things I will not scrimp on, to enhance my enjoyment of my all too infrequent hikes. Coffee is one of them. I keep laying hints for that titanium coffee press, but so far, no one is listening.